


The Path of a Predator

by TheEmberWoods



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-17 16:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13663059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmberWoods/pseuds/TheEmberWoods
Summary: Everly comes from a family of Hunters, with each member having their own specialties and outlooks on the 'true' path of a Hunter. While on the path to become the youngest Hunter in her family, will meeting Killua, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio alter her course? Or will her path lead her to the darker side of the Hunter Association - the one with a mad joker pulling the strings?





	1. The X Exam X Begins!

Title: The Path of a Predator

Chapter 1: The X Exam X Begins!

There was an art to disguising oneself in a crowd of many eyes. Finding the small gap between the sets of wandering eyes that always seemed to be watching at any given time always sent my heart into a flutter. The moment of hesitation, sensing whether my movement would draw the attention of others after fading into the background, before committing to the movements fully. It was more of a nod to my brother, though. Hesitation described him perfectly – he was frustratingly slow with everything. He wouldn’t move unless he knew it would be a successful one. While he introduced me to the world of disguises and blending in – among other things –  we couldn’t be more different with how we lived in that world. He liked to time events down to the second, every action prepared carefully, and every ending was considered… Which is why he took so long getting anywhere.

Mannerisms and confidence were my poison of choice.

Restricted areas, strange places for someone of my stature and age to be, the homes of others, discretely listening to conversations across the room… Such things were open to me with the right disguise – the diligent strokes of a refined brush painting me into whatever scene I desired and appearing as if I belonged with ease. Admittedly, when he first began teaching me, it was difficult to pull off. But now?

Now it was simply a game – one I excelled at.

The place I wanted to get into now required a more casual look. It was different than previous jobs, such as infiltrating a private estate with numerous highly trained guards patrolling the grounds, but one I had to take just as seriously. Luckily, my usual outfit consisted of such a look: a ponytail sticking out of my green and black baseball cap, an oversized turquoise sweater in which there was one large pocket in the front of the material, brown shorts and obviously worn sneakers.

With another glance around the room, I quietly took in the patrons and where their attentions were directed. There was a lone person sitting at the bar, glancing every now and then towards the door as he waited for a someone to step through them. The owner of the restaurant gave carefully looked around at those in his restaurant (I diverted my eyes towards my chocolate milkshake as his gaze swept over to me) and then started up another dish, turning his back to the restaurant as he called out cheerfully to his employee. The waitress who had served me rushed out of the back room and exchanged a few words with him happily before heading back into the room. The wandering eyes belonging to the woman in the corner were glued to the ceiling for the moment.

The exterior of the restaurant was covered in ivy above its awning, but the inside seemed to have been completely renewed – there were no scratches on the tables (and they didn’t suffer from uneven legs), and the floors beneath the chairs had no marks to be seen scratched into its wooden veneer (an odd fact, as the bubbly waitress said that the restaurant had been running for almost five years). Business had been incredibly slow, and even now, when it was around lunch time, there were still several empty tables that rose my suspicions of how the steakhouse got enough money for an entire remodelling job.

But, the building had nothing to really do with the reason I found myself sitting in one of these tables, so far away from home. After my brother directed me to this general area of Zaban City, it wasn’t difficult to notice groups of well-trained fighters being led by quirky guides who all kept their eyes on a scrap of paper they held in their hand. The groups stood out – large or small – as while the city was home to numerous dens of crooks, well-trained fighters (some who looked like they had been through hell) weren’t a common occasion.

Tailing one of these groups led me here, and after checking out the perimeter of the building before observing group after group disappear into the building, I decided that this was definitely the place I was looking for. This hole-in-the-wall, unassuming, restaurant was exactly where the entrance to the Hunter Exam was located.

Keeping track of everyone who entered, exited, and remained in the restaurant while enjoying a chocolate milkshake that tasted more like chocolate water than milk, I overheard the owner and the guides exchanging the same password each time a new one entered. With that coded conversation, the groups were allowed into the backroom and never came out.

The number of groups that came through those doors was staggering, but they were spread out enough to not attract the attention of the other patrons. Who, at this point, seemed unaware of the disappearance of these groups, as they simply ate their fill and left before they took notice.

With the glass of my milkshake streaked with a thin chocolate sheet, I decided that now would be a good time to continue my search inside the building. Any longer, and the cook who was undeniably set up by the Hunter Association would know I didn’t come here just to get a milkshake. So, as I waited for the waitress to come out of the back room, I pulled my phone from my sweater’s sole pocket. Taking a quick second to admire the adorable cat ears that decorated the top of the black remote-like phone (which also conveniently doubled as a taser and encrypted communication device, thanks to my slow older brother, Lance, who tended to spend a lot of his downtime tinkering with all sorts of cool stuff) before looking at the time displayed on the small display screen.

It had been about a half-hour since the last group headed in, and the first group I saw after I set myself up for surveillance had been missing for around three. Idling any longer, and I might miss the start of the Exam, seeing how the one thing Lance couldn’t uncover for me was the time it took place (which was part of the reason I had been in Zaban since the New Year – the Exam took place in the second week of January each year).

So, this was either the Hunter Examination Site, or some sort of underground smuggling ring – either of which I could no doubt handle easily, as my family trained me for both since birth. But as Lance’s information was never wrong (with the time he took to triple-check things, it’s no wonder why), the former was far more likely. While slightly disappointed that I would not be interrupting some sort of secret black-market meeting, I reminded myself that there was going to be more time for that sort of fun after my name was linked to a Hunter licence of my own.

Silently pushing clouded empty glass to the middle of the table, my fingers fiddled with the handle of my backpack. Discretely glancing down the hallway that split into two directions, I went over my plan once more before the waitress could return to the front.

Taking the hallway and turning left would take me to the bathrooms. Turning right would lead me further into the building – the obvious route, as there was no other entrance into the back of the restaurant. The small alleyway beside it only led to the large garbage bin for the restaurant’s waste – and there were no windows or doors to speak of that led inside for an easier way to dispose of garbage. While Zaban was hardly the largest city I’d travelled to, it had the same cramped buildings, pressed as close together as possible besides the main ‘tourist’ street. The alleyways were easy to hide in and losing a pursuer would never be easier than in the maze of a city… But it also meant there were fewer unseen entry points.

The only windows were facing the front of the building, which, _conveniently_ , was at the end of a ‘tourist’ street that was bustling with people. And it only took one to blow my cover – someone who looked the wrong way for the wrong second for some stupid reason. And, from my quick inspection, the windows were locked shut – something that would take more than a moment to shimmy open, enter, and close behind me. Not to mention the fact that I’d have to scale the front of the building first. Breaking the window would alert more people to my unwanted entrance and lower my chances at finding my way to the Exam Site myself.

There was no roof access, either.

It was a clever placement for the entrance to the Exam: a run-down building next to a fancy one that overshadowed it immediately, one with only one point of quiet entrance to funnel the applicants through (which means that there was only one path to the Exam), and would certainly require a guide for you to gain access to the entrance (which was unmistakably also hidden well within).

All in all, I would have saved myself a lot of effort to have just followed the instructions sent to me after applying to the Exam… But, there was hardly any challenge in that. With all the stories of my older siblings told me of their Hunter Exam there was one comment they all shared: it was easy. Even though I hated the slow pacing mom and dad set me at, the ones they got around to teaching me seemed to outclass a lot of the other examinees. But what kind of fun would _easy_ be?

Figuring out where the entrance was from limited information?  That was where the true challenge began.

So, my preferred method of entrance was the only stealthy option available: walking through the front door. Something that Lance would’ve hated doing, had he chosen to track down his own Hunter Examination.

The waitress came from the backroom with black garbage bag in hand and made her way to the front door. I waited until she closed the door behind her to silently stand up from my seat, slinging my black backpack over my shoulder. Having already paid for my watery milkshake, which I had easily convinced the waitress to prepare for me after a small sob story that had her soft heart tremble at the sound of (promising to try her best even though they had the ingredients but no real way of making a milkshake), I made my way down the hallway when the Hunter-cook was distracted. My sneakers made no sound as I went unnoticed: the sensation indicating watchful eyes didn’t trickle down my skin.

Turning around the corner, I ignored the stairs that led upwards and decided to head further down the hallway for the moment – planning to loop around if I didn’t find what I was looking for. It wasn’t long until I came to a out of place redwood door on my left that had a peculiar-looking switch beside it and had no handle to speak of. With a curious hum, I traced the oddly coloured wood, which wasn’t present anywhere else in the restaurant, and gently pushed open the door. No resistance met my hand, although a barely perceptible ‘ _click_ ’ reached my ears as the door swung open. My muscles stilled instantly, and I assumed that opening the door had triggered some sort of alarm. Keeping an ear out for any approaching footsteps, I decided to get a scan of the room before finding a hiding place to escape the gaze of the Hunter-cook when he came to check on the door.

The peculiar room looked like it belonged to a different restaurant than the one I had just left. While the chairs and the table set up in the middle of the room mirrored the one I had been sitting at, the intricate redwood doors and golden trim made my eyes narrow suspiciously. The clock-like device on the wall opposite of the door displayed the letter ‘M’ in yellow and hinted at the fact that there was more to this room than what a first glance would allow.

While I had heard of large elevators (as the ‘M’ indicated that this room might be one, the letter standing for ‘Main Floor’ or something) I had never imagined that an entire room would be turned into an elevator. While I raised an eyebrow at the rather showy elevator-room, I shrugged my shoulders lightly. It was probably foolish to expect a room to not have something hidden within it, the Hunter Association had enough money to throw around for these kinds of things – if the weird stages my siblings told me were anything to go on. They seemed to have a flair for the extravagant and dangerous: something that lasted throughout the entire Exam.

The energy my small push exerted on the door ran out as it changed directions and swung back towards its closed position. I let it shut (which sounded another barely audible ‘ _click_ ’) and allowed myself a quick look at the switch set up beside the doorframe. It looked like a regular light switch, but with the room being some sort of elevator and not having time to enter the room and look around fully, anything near the room was worthy of closer inspection. If the switch was linked to the function of the elevator, I would need to flip it and run into the room – if having the door open prevented this, I would need to set up some sort of contraption to do so while I waited in the room.

If the controls to the elevator were in the room, I wouldn’t need to worry about anything, but if they were in fact controlled by the Hunter-cook out front…? I could try to persuade him to let me through, but as he was guarding the entrance to the exam, he was probably chosen for a reason – one that probably included not letting cute little kids into an elevator because they asked nicely. I _could_ always kill whoever went down as a group of one, I just had to wait until one showed up. But how many others had made it through to the actual starting phase of the Exam? If I kept waiting, then I might be waiting long after the application process ends… Maybe killing an entire group wouldn’t disqualify me?

My lips pulled themselves into a thin line.

When the groups came in, the leader spoke with the Hunter-chef and used a code-phrase in order to gain access to the back room. In that, the number of participants going through was stated clearly. If that was relayed to wherever the first stage was taking place, having an extra person in the mix could potentially end poorly for me. Plus, the group that I joined would know that I hadn’t been with them – having too many people knowing information best kept private was a terrible idea. My family’s… ‘private’ career revolved around gaining private information and exploiting it for all it was worth. Sometimes it ended as blackmail, but mostly it ended in death – a valuable lesson to learn when deciding how many people would know your secrets...

Perhaps I was over-complicating things.

Even if I was disqualified for killing other examinees, each year the rules the Hunter Exam played by changed. Since I was already doing it a year or two earlier than I was supposed to due to my older sister’s request… I _could_ wait until I was thirteen and try again, but since my siblings had all gotten their Hunter Licenses at fourteen (except for Emelinne, who was the youngest of us all) I probably wouldn’t be able to try again until then if I was disqualified this year.

So, the worst that could happen if I got disqualified was…

Mom and dad getting mad, both at Neireniet for opening up some of my ‘Nen’ channels (or whatever she called it) too early and potentially endangering my life (according to her eventual panic, anyway), and at me for taking the Hunter Exam without their approval. But the most they would do would be grounding me and not letting me go out on missions, while Neireniet could worm herself out of a severe punishment – she was the golden child, after all…

Neireniet would probably be angry at me for a while. Well, angrier than usual. She would also probably refuse to teach me anything new without some _heavy_ bribing. Hell, getting her to train with me this recent time took a lot of bargaining that mostly dealt with keeping our mother from disturbing her as she worked on her paintings. And now that this training session of ours nearly killed me (apparently, anyway), the price would only increase…

Other than being abysmally bored from not going out on missions or training in anything new until the ‘real training’ began – which was supposed to happen when we turned thirteen – there wasn’t too much of a risk to getting disqualified.

With a nod to myself, I decided that I would at least try all the options – murderous or not – to try and get into the Exam on my own. Now I only needed to figure out what options came first. I should probably resort to murdering people for last – bodies were incredibly difficult to get rid of on my own…

So then first I would have to do some reconnaissance. I’ll find a hiding place down the hallway – or possibly upstairs – and wait to see how the elevator was operated when another group came by. If it turns out that its controlled in the front, I would kill the next group and head down in their place. The Hunter Association wouldn’t mind. After all, just signing up to the exam had a lengthy and constantly reinforced disclaimer that your life was going to be on the line to pass. It was a pretty brutal place to–

The sound of approaching footsteps broke off my thoughts.

With silent steps, I ran around the next corner and pressed myself against the wall, listening closely for whether the footsteps would stop by the door or continue down the hall. While it could be just a restaurant-goer, the alarm that was attached to the door definitely alerted the Hunter-chef, who would do a much more thorough search of the area. Looking around as I still tracked the slow footsteps by sound, I searched for the next hiding spot to take cover in.

There were doors further down the hall, and the closest of which was within arms’ reach of my current position… Easy enough to open and enter quickly. If it turned out to creak, I would just trick the Hunter-chef and instead just climb up the walls and wait for him to enter the room. While the ceiling wasn’t too high, someone focusing on a door wouldn’t think of looking up… unless they had training… would he?

My mind went to the paintbrush and pocket mirror I kept tied to my lower back, feeling the weight press against my skin. I thought of the new ability Neireniet ‘helped me’ create with my Nen’s awakening.

To be safe, I could always change my appearance into someone else’s… But who would I turn into? And I wouldn’t be able to mimic the target’s voice… which, now that I think about it, I could try and learn somehow. Maybe whatever Nen was could do that as well?

Brushing off the thought for later, I went through the possible uses I could use for _now_.

The bubbly waitress was a possibility, until I considered the fact that she had left the restaurant to take out the trash. The Hunter-chef would have to see her come back in to explain her presence in the hallway… Now that I think about it, I _could_ change my appearance to that of someone in another group…

“I know you’re there.”

I stilled my thoughts, pressing my back against the wall. Without a doubt, the voice belonged to the Hunter-chef. He hadn’t seen me, but the Hunter Association wouldn’t hire him to guard the entrance to the Exam if he couldn’t figure out that the door to the elevator room wouldn’t open on its own. My hands dove into my sweater’s pocket, locating my phone and sending a simple message with one hand to my brother (thanking for his valuable information, though he never responded to texts that he didn’t need to, so I wouldn’t be hearing back from him for a while) as my left hand wrapped around the handle of the foldable blade nestled in the warm fabric.

While my original plan to sneak in unannounced failed, this situation provided some more opportunities than waiting around for something to happen.

My thumb found its way to the button that would flip open the blade and lock it in the usable position, as my other hand left my phone. A small and sweet lollipop made its way to my mouth as I stepped out of the hallway, prepared to either kill the Hunter-chef or talk my way into the Exam.

“I’m a little lost, mister.” I rocked on my heels, taking out my lollipop to speak with my left hand while my other folded itself behind my back – slowly positioning myself into a stance that could quickly become a fighting stance at a moment’s notice, “Would you be able to help me find my way into the Exam?”

His gaze wasn’t on me immediately, as he seemed to be inspecting the door idly, but after a few moments of standing in the open, he turned towards me and completely ignored my question, “Only one in every ten thousand applicants make it to the Hunter Exam. The chance of applicants finding their own way into the Exam are even slimmer.” He didn’t seem to be hostile, and as I chose to continue watching him carefully instead of responding, he continued, “Only a handful or two, that I know of. You know what the protocol is for those cases?”

He seemed to be more impressed than angry at my presence in the back of his restaurant, a small upwards curl of his lips indicating he was amused by the situation. His body language revealed no hostile intentions, his hands by his side and his body directly facing my own (positioned so that my left side was angled towards him, disguised with my right foot wrapped around my left and tapping the ground as I stared him down) which meant his body was completely open to any attacks I could through at him. Not that it mattered, as I could create my own openings, but it only made my escape that much easier if it came to it.

“Well, I tried my hardest to get here on my own… Would you consider letting me into the exam, mister?” As he failed to respond, I chose to repeat the password I had memorized as I rolled the white stick of the strawberry lollipop between my fingers, “…Is the back room open?”

His grin widened, and he gave a slight nod, alerting me to my correct response, “What will you have?”

I swung out my foot from behind my leg, enjoying the momentum that came with it as I kicked it forward to start my silent steps towards him. Seeing as he was complacent in taking my ‘order’, I continued with a small smile of my own, “The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For one.”

“And how would you like them?” He gazed down at me as I stood before him, the door to the elevator room directly to my right as my hand still held onto my bladed weapon.

“Grilled over a low flame, until cooked.”

A much bigger grin broke across his face as he took the few steps required to reach the door and opened it with a push, revealing the inside to me once again as the light ‘click’ sounded. He gestured towards the room with an open hand, holding the door open for me as he spoke, “Got it. Let yourself into the back room.”

Cautiously looking into the man’s eyes before flashing them towards the elevator room, my hand still rested on the switchblade as the other shifted the strap of my backpack on my shoulder. I followed his instructions and entered the room. Hopping up onto the table there and claiming it as my seat, I stuck my lollipop back into my mouth and let the sweetness envelop my senses. Setting my backpack down on the smooth surface I then turned my attention back to him, waiting to see how he would activate the elevator and if the switch beside the room was the answer.

“As you didn’t come here with a guide, I need to record you as having reached the Exam Site. What’s your name?” As I took out my lollipop briefly to answer him, but he cut me off with a warning, “And I need the name you signed up with, or else you won’t be counted as present and therefore you wouldn’t be allowed to continue.”

I considered his words, wondering if I could go by an alias as soon as I descended to the Exam Site to conceal my identity for at least the beginning stages. Lance advised me to do, as that’s what he did when he came through…

“My name is Everly Luchia. Pleasure to meet you.” Rummaging through my bag and finding all sorts of bagged sweets, chocolates, and assortment of poisons, their antidotes, rope, and my handheld gaming console with its own bag of game cartridges, I pulled out the type of chocolate that I liked the least and offered it to him, “Would you please give the nice lady this for me?”

His eyebrow raised, but he stepped forwards to accept the gift, letting the door swing closed behind him, “A Luchia? Figures.” He gave me a curious look, and I mirrored it as I tried to figure out what he was thinking. Unfortunately, I didn’t have very long to decipher his words, “Word is it was going to be a few more years before one of you came through again.”

I shrugged nonchalantly, “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, mister.” And a sly smile appeared on my face as he realized I wouldn’t say any more on the matter.

“None of my business, anyway.” Oh, he _really_ wanted to know. Too bad for him, “I would wish you good luck on the Exam, but I don’t think you’ll need it.” He carried the chocolates in his hand as he left the room and brought the door to a close without another word. I heard the flip of a switch before the room lurched downwards.

The door, to my surprise, descended with the room. As I twisted my body around to view the box on the wall, I saw it now displayed a ‘B 1’ and the number was steadily increasing.

While I wasn’t sure how far down the Exam Site would be, I was more than willing to take a random guess for fun, “Hmm… let’s go with… seventy-two floors below ground level!”

With that, I bit off the candy of my lollipop and pressed the stick back into the wrapper before shoving it in my pockets. Moving the ball of candy around in my mouth, the sweetness bringing a happy smile to my face and refusing to let me drop it, I released my grasp on my knife. Lifting up the back of my overly large sweater, I reached for the paintbrush and pocket mirror strapped to my lower back. The wooden paintbrush that had intricate carvings covering the full length of it was positioned horizontally, so it wouldn’t interfere with the bending or twisting of my back. Having the mirror strapped alongside it didn’t seem to be the best way to transport it, and adjustments might have to be made in the future once I got used to my new abilities. With a swift tug, I pulled the two items from their restraints and popped open the mirror (which had a sturdy reinforcement case to protect it in case it was a rough-and-tumble day).

Dark brown bangs poked out from under my black and green baseball cap, the left side reaching down to the side of my green eye. A small mole by the corner of said eye peaked through the bangs when I brushed them to the side. As for the right side, I usually tucked the brown strands behind my ear because they were too short to be pulled into the ponytail that flowed out from the back of the cap: a secondary defence to keep the sun out of my eyes on a windy day. Said ponytail reached down to just past my shoulders, and when I took my hair out of its confinement, it only fell an inch or so lower.

Twirling the fancy paintbrush around in my fingers for a moment, I considered what kind of disguise I wanted to go with. I was about to enter into the Hunter Exam, where all sorts of (hopefully) powerful examinees would eventually face off against me for the chance of getting a Hunter License… While the Luchia family name was well-known to the common folk as the owners of a company that manufactures rather popular – and tasty – sweets, not many knew about the family’s role as Hunters. Dad had made a name for himself when he was younger, but as he went by a pseudonym, not many knew the one who hunted down dangerous criminals and other deadly work also made delicious sweets and recently expanded into making toys for children.

As such, he encouraged my siblings to do the same, in case their actions spread to other criminals who wanted some revenge.

It didn’t stop the more determined ones, but it did thin the herd.

Feeling a smooth warmth coat my hand, the air feeling thick and heavy around the fingers that stopped the paintbrush’s motion abruptly, I drew the unused hairs over the surface of the mirror.

“Disguise my true image from the eyes of others. Show those who look at me the one contained in this mirror instead.”

With each sweep of the brush, the mirror’s image grew more distorted. As I finished my ‘order’, the mirror reflected a different image than the one I had stared at previously. Instead of a green-eyed girl with a dark-brown ponytail looking back at me, my gaze was met with the one I had pictured: a brown eyed girl with a black ponytail.

It wasn’t too much of a change, as my body shape hadn’t changed, and my hair was still in the same style as before (it was only a visual effect, so if my hair wasn’t where it should be, it would alert those that tried to touch it)… But it _was_ still a new ability that I wasn’t entirely sure how to use properly yet. Neireniet failed to really explain anything that she had done to me, or what it meant. Probably to stop me from knowing how badly she screwed up…

The only thing she had me do in the few days that we had before our parents came home, as she didn’t want me there when they arrived – they would know immediately that something was up, apparently – was look at a leaf floating in some water. Then she had me ‘pull the warmth closer to my body’, and then forced me to try out the ability she came up with. Apparently, this ability got stronger with ‘limitations’, and she gave me a few to get me started as she practically dragged me to the training room. Snapping the mirror closed and returning it and the paintbrush to their holster position on my back, I went over said limitations in my mind.

  1. Mirrors other than the one used to start the illusion show my original form.
  2. Once someone realizes it is an illusion, the appearance won’t work on them anymore until I re-paint myself.
  3. If someone says my full name when the illusion is active, the illusion will end.
  4. Once the illusion has been dropped, either on purpose or by circumstance, I must spend three days in my original appearance before I can use it again.



I shrugged lightly at the numerous limitations my sister had given my ability. At least I got to name it: Appearance Impression. It was the cool name of a good book my sweet little younger sister told me about. It was a much higher level than what someone her age should be reading, but she’s always running out of interesting things to read in her age group (not gonna lie, there’s not a whole lot going on for bookworms at the ripe age of eight – and if there is, she’s already read them all).

Anyway, Neireniet said that after I passed the Exam, it would make a lot more sense, and that I would be able to create my own abilities and strengthen the one she created for me… Which made the Hunter Exam much more exciting than already thought it would be.

_Ding!_

The elevator came to a stop, and as I looked behind me, I saw that it had brought me down to the hundredth floor below ground. Hopping off of the table and swinging my backpack over my shoulder deftly, I stood in front of the door I came in through, hand outreached to push against the wood when the sound of something sliding behind me caught my attention.

What I thought was decoration before seemed to be doors: the red-wood panels with a nice looking gold trim slid open. Quickly making my way around the table, I left the room behind with purposefully audible footsteps and found myself in what seemed like a large tunnel system that smelled like it hadn’t seen visitors in quite some time. Pipes and vents lined the walls and travelled further into the darkness that the dim lighting created. Red lights blinked along the rust-coated panels every few feet, following the pipes into the darkness. As soon as I stepped into the cold air, I could feel many pairs of eyes on me.

Shadowed figures were given shapes as my eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, and while some were clustered together out of lack of space in the tunnel – as there seemed to be some sort of invisible boundary that prevented further delving into the shadows. But even with the clusters, it was easy to see that there were no friends here. The spacing, the angle of their bodies, the guarded weight in their stares and how they practically radiated impatience.

After they all sized me up, from what I could tell I was the youngest here so far, I quickly grasped for my currently play.

As of now, these people were my enemies. While some temporary team-ups might happen, the further the Hunter Exam goes, the more competitive things would get. So, I’d want to keep as low a profile as possible and keep my skills a close-guarded secret until it was too late. With this group of aspiring Hunters, it was almost guaranteed that at least one set of eyes would be on me even with my skills of blending in.

After all, we all made it here because we’re more skilled than the thousands that applied. The longer I continued through the phases, the more I would automatically stand out… especially if I was blending in. So, what would be the best way to combat that?

I scanned the figures of the clusters of people, and I could see exactly what the play was.

“Heyo!” With a friendly wave, eyes were averted, and quiet chatter started up between the groups.

I’d scope out the competition and join up with some stronger-looking people. For now, I was fine to go on my own, but staying without a cover for too long and it would become suspicious when I tried to join a group later – when the competition got serious. That means that in the first stage I needed to find someone who stood out to draw the attention away from myself and my abilities. And one that would let me do so. If possible, this would also go unnoticed by them. But, I would take what I could get with this group of well-trained fighters.

“Hello. Please take this number.” A little green coloured… man? In a suit appeared before me, handing me a large circular pin with the number eighty-eight engraved onto it. Taking the pin, he explained further, “Be sure to wear this on your chest at all times. Be careful not to lose it.”

He turned on his heel and walked away, taking his position next to the elevator doors, which had already closed and probably started its upwards journey back to the steakhouse. Before I could think to question the weird man further as I clipped the pin to my turquoise sweater, opting to pin it in the middle of my chest to keep my outfit somewhat symmetrical, another examinee approached me.

“Haven’t seen you around here before!” A short and rotund man with tan skin approached, giving me a friendly smile as he waved. His short brown hair was pushed back, and his thick eyebrows were a shade or two darker the brown of his hair. Light hairs that hinted at the start of a beard dotted his chin. The pin with the number sixteen engraved on it was attached to the left side of his large blue v-neck shirt he wore over what looked to be grey sweatpants and sweatshirt. A satchel was thrown over his right shoulder, not interfering with the pin’s visibility.

Overall, he looked pretty average. But, like I had already thought out, average was suspicious here. This man was no exception to that rule.

“You look a little young to be here… I noticed you came in alone, how hard was it for you to find the place?”

I could practically smell an ulterior motive coming from the guy.

“Mm. I wasn’t expecting it to turn out to be as hard as it was. Guess everyone was right when they said that the Hunter Exam was no joke!” He gave a short laugh at that as I continued, “What about you? Was it hard for you to get here, Mr…?”

“The name’s Tonpa. Nice to meet you.” He held out a hand, and as one hand delved into my pocket to wrap around my knife once more – with my thumb ready and waiting on the button – I shook his hand with the other, “It wasn’t too difficult for me. I kinda knew what to expect…”

“Good for you!” I could see his teeth clench together as I didn’t follow along with the question he was leading me into: something along the lines of ‘how do you know what to expect?’.

But, based on how he recognized that he hadn’t seen me in the Exam before, he had probably taken it more than a few times in succession. As easy as it would be to get him to tell me everything he knew about the contestants this year, it would only prove to make it more boring. I had plenty of practice getting all sorts of people to tell me the information I wanted, but I could always do with honing my own skills of determining who’s a threat and who’s not.

“Well, I’m afraid that the trip here really tired me out so I’m going try and get my energy back up for when things get moving. Good luck, maybe this time you’ll pass!”

Patting Tonpa on the shoulder and sending him a beaming smile, I made my way further into the darkness, eyeing a good vantage point on the vents above for observing those below me. I struggled to resist the urge to turn back towards Tonpa, who was one of the few people who still had their gaze on me, and give him a cheeky grin that would let him know I refused him his spiel on purpose… But thankfully his gaze soon left my figure as I made it to the wall, waiting a moment longer for the last gaze to leave me before silently jumping up onto the metal.

Noting the thin layer of dust that had collected on the pipe, but not bothering to wipe it from the surface before I sat down, I began my observation – making sure to note the numbers associated with interesting characters and reading the lips of whoever I could see talking for additional insight.

It wasn’t long before I realized that there was a small sensation tickling my spine: only noticeable because I was on high alert, watching for anything and everything.

My eyes met those of a red-haired man who looked like a cross between a magician and a joker, and he didn’t even attempt to remove his gaze from me as I met his eye. A shiver ran down my spine at the grin he sent me from across the tunnel – there for only a moment before the intense feeling disappeared as he raised a pale hand to send a small wave my way.

My eyes drifted to the number attached to his chest: forty-four.

The flash feeling of immediately sensing his danger nearly made me start reconsidering leaving the schedule the Luchia family followed for entering the Hunter Exam… But as he was the only one to cause such a reaction from simply meeting his eyes, I found myself wanting to find out exactly what this ‘Nen’ thing was. Because this joker set off the same reaction my sister did before she nearly killed me – something she attributed to Nen.

“Hm… this might be more interesting than I thought.”

Maybe this guy would be a perfect example for how deadly it truly was.

All I had to do was catch him in the act.

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\- Disclaimer -

The only thing I own are my OCs

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O

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Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, fireflies!

-Love, Ember ;3


	2. The X Sweet X Trap

Title: The Path of a Predator

Chapter 2: The X Sweet X Trap

“Argh! Come on! Why won’t you miss when I need you to…” With a sigh, I restarted the console, viewing the title screen and chapter selection that would haunt me in my dreams. Once again, the archer unit that of course was halfway across the map died before I could move my units in to protect him from the literal army that spawned around him. Since I been the one to choose the ‘hard mode’ difficulty option, I guess I only had myself to blame…

But really, game? A twenty-five percent chance of missing, and the enemy unit still hit him. And on top of that, landed a critical. Well, the latter part was mostly because of the item the unit had equipped – the one that increased critical hits but, _of course_ , this enemy didn’t seem to drop after I defeated him.

Seems the RNGoddess was just not on my side in this map… And while I did have a horse-riding unit in my roster, I tended to power-level the small group of classes that I liked and would use over those that would only drain the experience points my favoured units sorely needed in this higher difficulty mode.

The only reason I wanted to recruit the archer was simply because I liked to have the full roster of units when I completed the game. It added to the challenge… but also wanted me to tear my hair out in frustration sometimes.

This was of those times.

As I started furiously mashing buttons to get through the opening cutscene which told you exactly what you were doing, _again_ , and normally had some ‘we’ve gotta save those people quickly!’ lines in it, even there wasn’t any real rush to do so. The now-familiar ‘ _ding!’_ sound of the elevator’s arrival drew the eyes of the crowded tunnel towards the opening doors. I lifted my eyes from the screen to do the same, hiding my own stare within the numerous others.

Noticing that there were three figures exiting the elevator this time, a hum of interest rumbled in my chest. The only other people who had come in as three people were numbers one-hundred-and-ninety-seven through one-hundred-and-ninety-nine: the only ones who were standing much closer together than everyone else after they joined the crowd of shadowed figures. They could’ve just been a trio of friends, but brothers were more likely: they all had the same markings under their eyes, and I didn’t think friendship would last long here. I could admit that it was a good tactic, though.

Having three people against the other applicants who would mostly be going solo.

But the three new people? They bore no resemblance towards each other.

While many came in groups, after being dealt out their number by the green guy in the suit, they all split up and went their separate ways without another word to each other. Goodbyes and good lucks, if any, would’ve been exchanged in the ride down. But these three, after being handed their numbers, stuck close together.

Number four-hundred-and-three, the tallest and oldest looking of the group, had spiky black hair and a dark blue business suit. He carried a red and black diamond-patterned case with him, resting over his shoulder as his eyes looked out at the other examinees over the glasses that rested low on his nose. He looked young, probably in his twenties somewhere… But nothing to worry about combat-wise: a suit was a rather difficult thing to move in when fighting, and those slick black dress shoes might not give him the support needed to stabilize himself when trading blows. A man of appearances, nothing more.

Number four-hundred-and-four seemed to have dressed himself better. A full-body training suit lay beneath the strange blue and red lined garb that had no sleeves and left his sides open to reveal the plain grey clothes underneath. I hadn’t seen it before, and I made a quick note to myself to tell my mom about it when I saw her next. She always liked having lots of different outfits for different occasions, and she liked that sort of style. Shaking the thought from my head as I realised I was getting sidetracked, I focused back on the blond-haired man. The fine blond hairs tumbled messily down his face and covered part of his eyes from my view as he glanced around at the attention the trio received. Once the assumptions had been made, they would be left alone. A satchel bag much like Tonpa’s hung from his shoulder. He had a pretty-looking face, a stark contrast to the one of the older man beside him, and an even starker one to the excited kid that was practically bouncing on his other side. But, before I moved on, I noted that he stood with purpose, and according to the way he held himself, he reminded me of Lance: cautious, calculating, but slow to act. He knew exactly what he could do, and what he couldn’t. Knowing your own limits was a very useful thing when up against others who might not be able to make the same call.

“Excuse me…”

Number four-hundred-and-five started to raise a hand, perhaps in greeting, but as he noticed that the others had already lost interest, he trailed off half-way. He was young, with spiky black hair that had a tint of green in it that seemed to defy gravity with the way it sprung from his head. His outfit was all green: green boots, green shorts, and a green jacket with red trim. He had a small backpack, and some sort of metal rod… Wait, was that a fishing pole?

I lurched up from my slumped position: legs dangling around the pipe as my back pulled itself away from the stained walls. My hands found my knees as I squinted down at him through the darkness, trying to determine if the shape I saw on his back was really what I thought it was. Upon closer inspection, I couldn’t think of anything else it could be. Not when that shiny red sphere was attached to the top of it – the bobber? The floater? Ah, whatever it was called: the thing that was pulled under when a fish tugged at the bait.

…Well, it could be an antenna or something that you could find in sci-fi movies or Lance’s workshop.

Oh! Or maybe it was one of those blinking red lights on top of the radio towers I always saw when flying overhead in the night!

I set my game aside gently, carefully making sure it wouldn’t slide off of the pipe, and pulled my legs up from over the rounded curve of the metal. Folding them over one another, I placed an elbow on my knee as my palm found my chin, observing the kid that seemed to be around the same age group as me.

The innocent face was vastly different from the one number ninety-nine had: comparable only because of how close we seemed to be in age. The next youngest age-group seemed to fall in range with what I guessed to be Blond-Lance’s. After that, it was reaching into adult years and beyond, which is the age group most of the participants fell into.

So far, the three of us seemed to be the youngest. But, the latest arrival seemed to be the preferred option for teaming up: gullible, trusting, and friendly.

Number ninety-nine’s eyes were far too sharp to be of use as an unsuspecting cover. They pierced through the crowd as soon as he walked through the elevator doors, not needing even a second before they adjusted to the change in light. He seemed to dismiss the other contestants one by one quickly, and even glanced up my way when the gazes of the crowd were still on him. He was also far too casual, the red and yellow skateboard that was tucked against his side as his hands were hidden by his pockets and he made no sound as he moved. His pale skin stood out with the dark blue turtleneck with a lighter coloured and baggy shirt thrown over it. His hands were firmly stuck in the pockets of his baggy dark grey shorts, and only were removed to accept the poisoned drink Tonpa had offered him.

And, speaking of which, Tonpa the rookie crusher was handing out the same drinks to the newcomers as well.

I had heard the title from the chubby bowtie and suspenders – number one-hundred-and-eighty-seven. He was typing away at his computer, sitting on the pipes that ran just above the ground far below the one I sat on. Long story short, Tonpa’s offering had been rejected as the computer-typing man had called him out on his ploy.

…Sharp-eyes had come back numerous times to Tonpa, faking childish innocence as I often did, and while I caught the words exchanged between the two, the pale boy had claimed he was immune to toxins.

That’s all I needed to confirm my thoughts as the evidence added up: the way he didn’t make a sound as he walked, the immunity to toxins, the sharpness of his eyes… the bagginess of his clothes (a tool that I was also using to disguise the effect years of training had on my small body). The first, walking without making a sound, was an assassination trick. My family had learned it to combat those skilled in it, and it was useful in all sorts of other areas as well. The immunity to toxins? That’s a lot of training to go through – and my siblings and I only had the same immunity because of mom’s worry that the Hunter line of work would draw in enemies who were paid to deal in such methods. She was right, and as I had eaten the poisoned food without question – not yet able to detect it by smell – and without harm, the housekeepers my family had employed weren’t so lucky. What a mess _that_ was.

Sharp-eyes knew his way around fighting and bloodshed, at least. And those skills had to be taught.

While he seemed to be playing nice now, and having such a skilled person as a cover would hide my similar strengths nicely… He would no doubt see right through me. Or, at the very least, be more aware of my attempts. Especially because he was so skilled: he would no doubt want some sort of equal to follow him around – something that wouldn’t really help in hiding my abilities until the last possible moment.

Leaving my thoughts of Sharp-eyes behind as I watched the Green-boy spit out the drink Tonpa had given him and causing his two companions to do the same. The young boy claimed innocently that it had expired and explained that he was able to tell because he had sampled all kinds of wild plant life. My lips twitched into a smile as I made Green-boy my target for drawing the attention away from myself.

**“Aaaaaaaaagh!”**

My eyes instantly focused in on the source of the loud scream.

The cries of the man wearing gladiator armour drew the attention of everyone in the tunnel, and we all watched as his arms started to just… transform… into a shower of little red flowers. Over him stood Joker, number forty-four, with his arms folded across his chest as he watched the man slump to his knees. The tight gathering of examinees had parted, creating a large circular stage for the two.

“Oh, how peculiar…” His voice easily overpowered the man who was still screaming in pain, and his face held only amusement as he continued, “His arms seem to have become flower petals.”

It became eerily silent. The man had fallen over, dead or unconscious, I wasn’t sure.

“No smoke and mirrors here.” He spread his arms to the side, enjoying the spectacle that had been made, “Do take care. When you bump into someone, you really should apologize.”

Was that Nen? Was Nen different for everyone, or could I do that as well? Could I turn arms into flower petals? Could I erase bodies without the use of acids, and get rid of any evidence? Was that a possibility? What else could the Joker do? Is that the most Nen can do, or were there even more dangerous abilities to be learned?

Deadly ones, not like the one my sister had created to disguise me with?

Cursing myself for missing the interaction between the Joker and the other man, not being able to see the signs or steps he had used to cause such a reaction, I found myself getting pulled in by the power Nen could provide. Neireniet had known about it and had taught me the bare minimum before basically shoving me out of the house. Why couldn’t she tell me more before I left? If she knew about Nen, then my other siblings knew, too. Which means that they could probably use it as well. Why hadn’t they told me about it before? Why hadn’t mom and dad started training me to use this awesome ability?

After I passed the Exam, Neireniet said that I’d learn more about it… Did Ren mean that she would teach me? Or would the Exam teach it to us? Or would mom and dad teach me after? Was learning how to use Nen the ‘real training’ that mom and dad were supposed to teach us when we turned thirteen?

If it was such a useful ability, why the hell would they wait so long?!

Watching as Joker turned and walked away from his kill, I quickly found myself hoping that he’d reveal more of his abilities soon (and hopefully not on me). Noting the traces of bloodlust in the air since that display, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the greatest threat here would perform for us again.

A loud ringing noise drew my attention away from Joker’s lanky figure, and it seemed to come from beyond eyesight in the darkness. As a low rumbling echoed through the tunnel when the ringing stopped, I took it to mean the waiting was _finally_ over. With eager fingers, I quickly packed my game away after giving the loading screen I had failed to move past the harshest glare I could muster. That level would be conquered, if I had anything to say about it: it would soon see why it shouldn’t mess with a Luchia, _especially_ a competitive one. The RNGoddess has been warned.

Happy now that I had threatened my gaming console, I placed it back in its special place in the black bag: the small attachment that held the handheld snugly, with a latch to ensure it wouldn’t bounce around too much between all the candy. Not that it really mattered, since I had another at home (this one was a hand-me-down from Melu, the younger twin of Ren, and put in use for when I was on jobs and had some time to kill), but it was still my precious baby, and I cherished it even though it sided with the vile RNGoddess more often then not.

With a slight tug on the latch to make sure it was held in place and giving a slight nod to myself when it didn’t budge, I then revealed the secret hidden beneath the pile of lollipops (which I made sure to take a handful of to restock my sweater-pocket supply). Said pouch was pretty spacey, as it held my two favourite daggers and the straps that would attach the sheaths to my belt (which my sweater could normally still conceal pretty easily) and the attachable roller blades Lance had given me for my last birthday.

Deftly placing my real weapons on my body, relieved to feel their weight on me once more, I chose a few different flavours of lollipops to refill my pocket-supply while choosing an orange-flavoured one to ease my sugar-craving for now. With a happy pat to my full pouch that matched my grin as the sugary sweetness appeared in my mouth, I jumped from my lookout and landed on the ground – making sure not to give into the habit of doing so completely silently.

Noticing that the other applicants had made their way further up, all appearing to be crowding in a semi-circle, I quickly strapped my sneakers into the roller-skate frames. The ground in here wasn’t soft enough for them to get snagged, as my finger was unable to dig up the packed dirt without a lot of effort. I released a puff of air, grinning at the thought of being sent flying by my brother’s contraption. While it _would be_ quite the sight, righting myself before I hit the ground would not match up with the disguise I was going for. And giving the ground an unplanned hug was not on my list for today.

Zipping up my backpack and slinging it over my shoulders, I skated up to the crowd to see what was drawing their attention. But, as the adults were far taller than me, I couldn’t quite see over their heads. Because they were packed tightly together, I couldn’t see _through_ them, either. With a pout, I peered over their heads anyway, noticing that there seemed to be more red lights on the tunnel wall than what I had seen before.

…Did the tunnel get longer?

I had thought that the tunnel had just curved abruptly up ahead, which was why I couldn’t see the beady red eyes shining in the dark… But maybe the rumbling was the tunnel being opened up further: the red lights did eventually follow a curve, but it was a smoother path than what I had previously assumed.

“I apologize for the wait.” Oh good. The voice was loud enough that I would’ve heard him from where I had stopped to put on my skates – I didn’t miss anything, “The entry period for Hunter applications has ended.”

I could barely contain the loud shout of triumph that built up in my throat. It had been such a long wait for this to kick off: I had to pull out my game to stop myself from dying of boredom as I waited for the next applicant to come down in the elevator. There was such a _looooooong_ wait for the next one that even reading silent conversations wasn’t enough to keep me interested in waiting around.

I scoffed, and I was worried I was going to miss the start of the Exam before I came down the elevator…

“The Hunter Exam will now begin!”

A rustle came from the crowd, everyone shifted at the mystery-man’s words and started to prepare themselves. I took a moment to stretch out my legs, getting ready for the long-awaited moment as I carefully scanned the crowd for Green-boy. But instead of finding Green-boy, the sooner I could get him as cover the better, I instead found the figures I had cemented into my memory as people I should keep an eye on throughout the Exam.

There was of course, number forty-four: the Joker. He looked… happy…? to see that the Exam was starting up. But, I couldn’t be too sure: I hadn’t gotten enough time to study his facial expressions to figure out what he was thinking. And his body-language was no help either: he was as calm and collected as a cucumber. With maybe a little bloodlust thrown in the mix.

The white hair of Sharp-eyes, number ninety-nine, peaked out at me from between the gaps of people. His back was turned to me, and he had been easily lost in the crowds because of his short nature so I hadn’t the time to study him closely either. And while I could’ve just as easily blamed it on the fact that my attention had been divided between my game and the examinees, I preferred to blame it on the fact that he seemed to be a little more dangerous to my cause than the others. He had sharp eyes, after all. Not that Joker didn’t, but I had a feeling he was more amused with me than anything (if the brief look we shared was something to go by). Sharp-eyes was far too familiar to me to be a comfort. What was it Emelinne talked about with her books? ‘Kindred spirits’?

After all, I singled him out because we were similar. It was insulting to Sharp-eyes if I expected anything less of him. If I was wrong? It was always better to err on the side of caution when it came to these matters.

I had to make sure to tip-toe around him, in any case.

Old Man Zen, number one-hundred-and-ninety-one, was this incredibly old-looking guy who spent most of his time meditating. He kinda reminded me of my grandpa, the one on my mom’s side, since the one I had of my dad’s dad were hazy at best. Perhaps that was just the ‘old-man-look’ talking, though. Since mom’s parents had nothing to do with Hunters or fighting. Anyway, Old Man Zen was someone to watch out for because… well, because he was old. Why else would an old person take the Hunter Exam if they weren’t good at what they did? And he spent all of the long wait _meditating_. I mean, who did that? Only those crazy monks who trained under waterfalls and spent their time speaking in riddles to their pupils and whatnot. Movies weren’t entirely accurate, of course… But this was Old Man Zen. And Old Man Zen _definitely_ trained under waterfalls. The riddle part? I’d have to do more research on that.

Speaking of movies: Ninja-guy’s bald head caught my attention from its sheen. Number two-hundred-and-ninety-four, while he didn’t act like much (I’m pretty sure ninja’s weren’t going around telling people they were ninja’s – thank god the movies got that one right), he did give off this strange… vibe. Like the one Ren had just before things got serious, except this time it wasn’t as… dangerous. At least, it didn’t feel that way. But it only came from him a few times, when he had a really serious look on his usually dopey face.

Mr. Pins and Needles, number three-hundred-and-one, now that guy was just an overall unsettling examinee. He had bright yellow pins sticking out of his face, and a tuft of blue hair sprouted out the top of his head like one of the weird plants mom studied. He had this blank look on his face, and just… _vibrated_ whenever he walked. My face scrunched up as I looked at the tall man’s back, the way his head, even when standing still, moved like a battery-powered toy that was trying to move when it was running low. Those forced movements and the sway his body took when making them, it made me more uneasy than Joker with all his power and bloodlust.

At least with Joker, I knew what I was looking at. With Mr. Pins and Needles? I honestly had no clue who he was or what his deal is.

And that was scarier than Joker’s red disintegration flowers could ever be.

Number three-hundred-and-eighty-four was interesting, but not interesting enough to earn him a nickname. His choice of weapon: a long blowgun, was cool and all... But, his interesting qualities really trailed off after that.

With still no sight of Green-boy (how the hell didn’t his green-ness stand out among all the dark colours everyone wore?!) or the Blond-Lance that accompanied him, I frowned to myself as the mystery-man started explaining more rules, “A final caution. If you are short on luck or ability, you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead.”

Hmph. Not like that wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Turns out – I’m not even safe from my own family!

…The joke would’ve been funnier if Aurelian – the oldest Luchia child – had been around to hear it. She always got my kind of humour. Now that I think about it, I hadn’t seen her in a while… Maybe I should drop by Ipenard City soon. The city always had a lot going on, and I could probably catch a fight with her at Heaven’s Arena. She _did_ love her fights, after all.

“Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you.”

How nice of them to offer a way out of the Exam for people who realized they’re completely outmatched. However, after waiting so long to actually get this show on the road, did they really think anyone would back out now? My eyes scanned the crowd for Green-boy, seeing if he would move to leave and mess up my plans. He didn’t seem injured when he came in, Blond-Lance and…

What was a good name for the other one?

I’ll go with ‘Suit’.

Blond-Lance and Suit also seemed to be pretty healthy.

As the seconds drew on, with no one moving an inch, mystery-man spoke again.

“Very well. All four-hundred-and-four applicants will participate in Phase One.”

Well, seemed like the guy who got his arms turned into flowers didn’t make it.

The crowd started moving, and I easily kept pace with the people moving ahead of me while I kept my eyes peeled for Green-boy. I might not be able to worm my way into the group he’s formed in the First Phase, but I could at least figure out a way to do so in the next phase by studying him. I was content to stay in the back for now, as long as I had visual on Green-boy it didn’t matter where I was in the group… But I would of course keep my distance as I did my scouting. I scoffed as my nose wrinkled at the thought.

Lance would be so proud.

The walk turned into a fast-walk, and then into a light jog before I had noticed: the roller-blades made keeping up with the crowd a lot easier than running with them. Before long, the pace had been set at a full-on sprint.

This _was_ the First Phase, I realized. An endurance test, meant to not only test our stamina, but also testing how far we could keep going without knowing how long we had to go on. It would certainly weed out a lot of them, from my observations, but it depended on how long this phase actually was…

Not that it mattered. Even if I had been running, my family trained me hard enough that it would be days before I tired. I hadn’t really tested it out, but the rough estimate was probably true.

“I neglected to introduce myself. I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner. I shall lead you to the exam’s Second Phase.” With the surprised mutters that spread across the crowd of running people like wildfire, Satotz clarified, “You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the Exam’s First Phase.”

A heavy air fell at his words. I could only smile in excitement, hidden at the back of the group.

The competition was underway. Now the real fun could start.

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 It had only been two hours since this running started. Two. And I already couldn’t wait for it to be over. While I knew I was impatient, Lance and- well, all of my siblings reminded me of it constantly, but I could’ve _sworn_ that it had been longer. Had the time spent waiting for the Exam to begin been a lot shorter than I thought it had?

I sighed, saddened by the fact that I couldn’t count the red lights on the wall anymore: they had disappeared about half-an-hour ago. Now I was left with keeping track of how many people fell behind as I kept a safe distance between Green-boy and myself. So far there had been ten since I started counting, but I knew for a fact more had fallen before that.

…Being in the back of the crowd had been boring but being in the middle was even more so. While I successfully had resisted the temptation, I couldn’t break any bones of those who had fallen behind even if I wanted to now. Someone behind me could spot me taking the time to ease my boredom easily. But what really drove all sorts of entertaining thoughts deep into my being was the fact that I couldn’t trip anyone up and pretend I had nothing to do with it when they fell. I mean, I couldn’t trip people in the back either, but still.

…Although, now that I think about it, it would probably be more amusing to do at the front and watch everyone try and avoid the human obstacle in their way. If they couldn’t, they would only add to it.

I sighed, again. Like my game, I had chosen the ‘hard-mode’ difficulty to make the Exam more challenging. Unfortunately, this challenge meant I had to save up all my tricks and fun-making for later. The thought to move up and see what Joker was up to already had to be pushed down a few times, and I could sense that I’d have to do so again soon.

Green-boy glanced backwards in my direction, like he had done so many times before. And, like before, I easily saw it coming and sped up slightly to use another examinee to block my figure from his view with perfect timing. If there was one thing that I learned about Green-boy since I started tailing him, it was that he seemed physically unable to try and hide his intentions.

The sight of Sharp-eyes’ white hair drawing closer had me dropping back again, widening the distance between Green-boy’s group and me as they caught up to him on his skateboard. He was lazily shoving the rolling board forward, seemingly not caring where he was in the crowd.

“Hey! Wait up, kid!” Suit angrily called out to him, and it took a few seconds before Sharp-eyes realized Suit was talking to him, “You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!”

“What do you mean?” Sharp-eyes sounded confused, and so was I.

“Why are you using a skateboard? That’s cheating!”

“Why?”

“This is an endurance test!”

I raised an eyebrow at Suit’s statement. Sure, that’s what it was supposed to be, but weren’t Hunters supposed to be able to adapt to their situations and give themselves the best chances? There certainly wasn’t any sort of ‘code’ when it came to Hunters: each played by their own rules. If Suit wanted to tire himself out by arguing – he _had_ started to slow a little, and Green-boy and Blond-Lance kept pace with him – it didn’t bother me. It’s only putting _him_ at a disadvantage because he couldn’t adapt like the others or keep up.

“No, it isn’t.” I looked over to Green-boy, who had spoken up.

Suit didn’t look happy with that comment, “Gon, what are you saying?!”

So Green-boy’s name was Gon?

“The examiner only told us to follow him.”

“Whose side are you on, Gon?!”

Well, it seemed like Green-boy wasn’t as clueless as he looked. My cover kept getting better and better…

Sharp-eyes slowed down, leaving Suit behind as he stared Green-boy down, “Hey, how old are you?”

“I’m twelve years old.” The straightforward and honest answer was refreshing, and also showed just how trusting and innocent he was. And, it turns out we were the same age after all.

After staring Green-boy down for another moment, he flipped his skateboard up, catching it mid-air as he hit the ground running without a misstep, “Guess I’ll run too.”

“Wow!” Green boy beamed and Sharp-eyes, keeping pace with him, “That was cool!”

…Okay, it would be wrong to not admit that the move was pretty cool. So, I didn’t. It was cool. Very cool.

But that cool move was a problem. If Green-boy and Sharp-eyes were together, there’d be no way I could easily grab my distraction. Not without the chance that Sharp-eyes would pick up on my goal…

“I’m Killua.”

“I’m Gon.”

So, Sharp-eyes Killua and Green-boy Gon seemed to be becoming fast friends. Thanks, universe. You’ve been a wonderful help.

But, before I could curse the bad luck I was having today, Sharp-eyes sent a quick glance over his shoulder – one that I narrowly avoided but couldn’t quite block with the person running just a little ahead of me. I could feel the tingle in my spine, letting me know that Sharp-eyes was looking at me, but just as quickly as the feeling had come, it had gone.

I kept my eyes trained to the front of me, picking a figure’s back to stare at for a few long minutes as I waited to see what Sharp-eyes would do. He had no doubt figured out I was the one staring at him (although I was staring just over their heads and watched them in my peripherals, just as Lance had taught me… But, I didn’t nickname him Sharp-eyes for nothing). After a few moments of silence, I thought that Sharp-eyes had considered me a non-threat.

My eyes drifted over to the pair again, careful to keep my line of sight a little farther away this time and spot them in the corner of my eye…

Only to see Green-boy looking back at me and waving his arms, “Heeeeeeeeey!”

With another sigh escaping me, I waited a second before looking over, pretending that the sound of his voice had drew my attention and that I hadn’t already been observing him. As he noticed he had my attention, he gestured for me to join them – Sharp-eyes kept said eyes to the front – and with a brief glance at the backs in front of me to prepare myself, I slowly rolled my way over to them.

Green-boy was bouncing in excitement as I approached, his brown eyes sparkling, “Hey! Killua pointed out that you might be the same age as us – is that true?”

I gave him a laugh, my mind rapidly coming up with a new plan as I bought it time with playing to my strengths, “Well, I don’t know… How old are you two?”

“Oh! Sorry! I’m twelve, and my name’s Gon!” He sent me a bright smile and a wave, which I returned.

“I guess we’re the same age, then!” He somehow brightened even more than before at that.

I felt Sharp-eyes looking at me again, but I blocked the sensation out for now.

“Really?”

“Yep! You can call me Kyra, Gon!” Gon nodded at me, and I turned my attention to Sharp-eyes, who had cool blue eyes, “I saw you jump off of your skateboard and catch it in midair! That was so cool! How’d you do it? Have you practiced catching it like that a lot?”

Sharp-eyes stared at me for a moment longer, causing Gon to look over at him as well before chipping in, “Yeah! How long did it take?” I had to hide the grin from breaking out on my face as Sharp-eyes eventually gave in as two sets of brown eyes stared at him, waiting for a response. The weight of his gaze lifted from my body as he towards Gon to answer.

Hmm… maybe Gon could draw attention not only from the other applicants, but also Sharp-eyes…

“It didn’t take me too long, but I have good balance.” His voice was somehow a mix of smug and modesty, only accented by the light roll of his shoulders as he shrugged. While I filed away Sharp-eyes’ vague reply, Gon seemed to be even more impressed by it.

But, I wasn’t sure if I had done enough to smooth over Sharp-eyes’ potential suspicion… and I really hated leaving loose ends to worry me. He was still a kid, right?

I grinned to myself before I could stop it, and pulled out a lollipop from my pocket, unwrapping the red wrapper – showing that it was another strawberry type – loudly. I made sure to crinkle the wrapper for extra measure as I lifted the candy-on-a-stick from it, and I could feel the noise draw the attention of the two boys. I rolled up the red wrapper and buried it beneath the other lollipops in my pocket.

Popping the candy into my mouth, I waited an extra second before turning to look at the boys, as if noticing that they were still beside me. Blinking rapidly, my hand dove into the folds of the turquoise fabric and I revealed two more lollipops. With a glance down at the wrapping colour – orange and blue – I offered the sweets to them. After a moment, Gon accepted the orange one with a wide smile.

“Gee, thanks Kyra!”

Sharp-eyes eyed me for a second, but it seems like the call of candy was too much for him, and he ended up looking at the lollipop for much longer than he watched me.

“My parents taught me it was rude to use a name that wasn’t given to you by the person in question. Would you mind introducing yourself to me?”

It was an offering: an exchange.

But his hesitance only lasted a moment longer before he gave in – quite an impressive show, in my opinion. Before I knew it, my fingers were holding air and the lollipop was already in Sharp-eyes’ mouth. Gon was still having trouble with opening the wrapper, and seeing as he was trying to carefully unwrinkle every piece of the wrapper, I could see why it was taking him so long.

“That’s weird.”

I let out a chuckle as I focused my eyes back to the backs of the runners in front of us, “Mm, I guess.”

Seconds went by, and as Gon finally was able to unwrap the lollipop and join us in enjoying the sweet taste, Sharp-eyes gave in, “If you really wanna hear it from me, the name’s Killua.”  

I grinned again, and I could sense that Killua had seen it. He huffed, but said no more, shoving his hands into his pockets as we continued following the tunnel’s path.

“So, Gon, what brought you to the Hunter Exam?”

“Well, you see-”

While I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something, I pushed the thought away for a celebratory pat on the back for still finding my way to my cover – even with Killua now hovering around him. I let out a silent chuckle.

No one could resist the charms of a sweet trap.

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 O

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\- Disclaimer -

The only thing I own are my OCs

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***PLEASE NOTE***

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For those wondering, while it will be explained a little later, the game Everly's playing is baaaasically a reference to GBA Fire Emblem. Aaaaaand the system she's playing on is baaaaaasically a GBA. They'll both had non-branded names coming up, but this is just to satisfy those curious cats out there!

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O

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Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, fireflies!

-Love, Ember ;3


	3. Ready? X Set... X Go!

Title: The Path of a Predator

Chapter 3: Ready? X Set X Go!

Four hours, sixty kilometers, and _still_ nothing interesting had happened yet. Suit had started to slip behind the group, running out of steam, and while Gon seemed to not have noticed it yet, we did find ourselves at the back of the group. While the back of the group was still boring, I made sure to check off the numbers that fell behind as we passed them…

Fifty-five: a shot man with a full beard fell behind, out of breath and red in the face.

Three-hundred-and-seventy-two: a young woman with cool green hair that covered her face as she stopped, panting for breath.

Two-hundred-and-six: an average-looking man with short black hair and-

Something clattered on the ground behind us, and the three of us looked over our shoulders to see what it was.

The black and red checkered suitcase that Suit carried with him tumbled to the ground, and the man stumbled to a stop before resting his hands on his knees. His breath came quick, and it seemed like the heavy gulps of air weren’t nearly enough as his chest heaved. Sweat was pouring off of him, and it looked like he couldn’t take another step.

Well, number four-hundred-and-three was joining those who had failed the First Phase of-

“Huh?” I slowed to a stop, the wheels attached to the soles of my sneakers digging into the ground, “What are you stopping for, Gon?”

He was looking back towards Suit, waiting for _something_ as the remaining Hunter applicants ran farther away from us. Killua had stopped as well, looking from Gon to Suit after he had scanned the former’s face.

He didn’t respond.

“Hey, forget him. Let’s get going.” Killua urged Gon, though he made no move to continue forwards himself.

As seconds passed, Gon stood unmoving. His brown eyes focused on Suit, ignoring everything else.

I let out a long sigh, chewing on the candy-less stick before I spoke, “Or we could just stare at him. That works too, I guess.”

After another moment, I turned to look at the retreating backs. Joker might be making things interesting up there… and now that I’ve introduced myself to Gon and Killua – and a gift of candy could always be an ‘in’ – I could always re-join them later.  My foot slid against the ground, but before I could move away from the two boys, a loud shout came from behind me.

“I’M GONNA BECOME A HUNTER!” With a sudden burst of energy, and a weird look on his face, Suit leapt forward, arms swinging wildly as he ran past us. “Damn iiiiiiiit!!”

“Eh?” The curious sound slipped from my mouth before I could stop it, and I turned to Gon, “Gon, how long have you known Suit and Blond-L… Blondie?”

Gon had grabbed the pole strapped to his bag, extending it out into a fishing pole, “I met them on the way over from Whale Island! So, it hasn’t been too long!”

With a quick motion of his arm, Gon sent the fishing hook sailing through the air. The shiny red bobber glinted at us from the distance as it slowly finished its arc: landing right on top of Suit’s suitcase. With another sharp tug on the fishing rod, Gon pulled back, and I watched in awe as I realized the hook had somehow latched onto the handle of the case. It returned to Gon easily, without the case weighing it down enough to hit the ground, and his fingers wrapped around the handle easily. His arm swung back, going with the momentum of the case’s arc, and as I followed the motion, I saw Killua’s wide-eyed stare trailing the case as well.

Noticing our amazed stares, he lifted the case in triumph, removing the hook from the handle with practiced hands. Killua let out a low whistle.

“Cool!”

“That was awesome!!”

He grinned widely at us, siding the fishing pole through the case’s handle and carrying the two over his shoulder. As he started running, Killua kept pace with him as I skated in line with the two boys as well.

“Have you caught any fish with it? How many? How big was the biggest one?” The questions rattled off of my tongue before I could stop them, and after a momentary pause, I measured out an imaginary length of the largest fish I had seen in the Ozryn market: about as far as my arms could reach from my body, “Was it thiiiiiis big??”

Gon chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, “I’ve caught a lot of fish – Whale Island has a lot of fishermen that I learned from. The biggest one I’ve caught is called the Master of the Swamp. It’s muuuuuuuch bigger!” He puffed out his chest, stretching his unoccupied hand out as a demonstration as I watched eagerly, “Aunt Mito said I couldn’t take the Hunter Exam until I caught him!”

“Woooooah…”

In my silence, as I thought about Gon’s words, Killua spoke up, “Let me try that later.”

“Only if you let me try your skateboard, okay?” Killua nodded in agreement, and Gon happily looked back at me, “You can try it too, if you’d like!”

“Oh, really?!” I clapped my hands together happily, “I’ve never fished anything before! Let’s see… I’ll trade you another lollipop to borrow it for a while sometime!”

“Deal!”

I jumped in excitement, the wheels underfoot leaving the ground for a moment before I slowly guided them back into the rhythm of long strides against the hard dirt, “Yay!”

“For _two_ lollipops, you can try out my skateboard.”

“Hmm… Tempting. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Killua clicked his tongue as a small frown pulled at the corners of his lips, “Tch.”

I sent the white-haired boy a cheeky grin that had him rolling his eyes and finding interest a new interest in the running contestants that had just come into view again. Following his example, the three of us caught up quickly to the back of the group as we narrowly dodged out of the way of a man collapsing to the ground out of exhaustion. It wasn’t long before the long winding tunnel revealed a curve that went upwards: a long stairway that had applicants running up them in small groupings. The countless steps veered left and right slightly as it led us upwards, and as we approached I got ready to adjust my wheeled attachments.

Lance had made them as regular rollerblades at first, but with the number of varied situations I got myself into with his gift, he eventually changed his design. When I wanted to change from rollerblades to walking quickly and didn’t have time to sit down and take them off (it actually happened a lot: chasing people down was hard, and ever-changing work), I could move the front wheels backwards towards my heel and press them into place. As there were six wheels, two at the heel, two in the middle, and two at the underneath the ‘palm’ of my foot (the area just below where the toes connected to the foot), Lance thought it would be easiest to slide the middle and forward wheels towards the back set.

Structurally, this function made the attachable rollerblades less sturdy, especially when the weight of my body was being spread out to the twelve wheels, as Lance had said. But, when he upgraded them, he recreated them completely with the strongest metals he could get his hands on – so there haven’t been any problems so far.

So, when the stairs were close enough, I leapt upwards and brought my knees to my chest. Reaching for the underside of my sneakers, I quickly found Lance’s metal framework and slid the bar connecting the two front wheels back into the middle ones. After the wheels were pressed against each other, I tugged the mechanism down further and brought both sets of wheels towards my heel. With the wheels all in line, I pushed them into my heel until I heard a ‘click’, alerting me to the fact that the locking mechanism had kicked in. And, the arc of my jump had me falling towards the steps of the stairs, I calculated where I would land and got my feet in position. Landing, and continuing my run with my weight on the front of my feet as I kept the wheels at my heels from touching the steps, I felt the two sets of gazes on me.

…In the few hours that I had spent with the two boys, I had somehow managed to forget that I was supposed to keep my skills hidden until the last possible moment.

“Looks like you can do cool tricks too, Kyra!”

Gon’s excited response made me aware of Killua’s silence, and as I let myself steal a look at him from the corner of my eye, I could see his gaze was directed at the device strapped to my feet. It was pretty expensive metal, probably out of reach for any ‘normal’ people… Had Killua come across it before? Did he know how tricky it was to get? To soothe my own worries, and to start forming Kyra’s cover story, I decided to tell Gon half-truths.

“Haha, thanks! My brother can make really cool things! So, when I told him that I was taking the Exam, he sent me off with these to try and help me out!”

The Hunter Exam was dangerous, and the chances of dying were extremely high: a family member concerned for my wellbeing and searching for a way to give me an advantage (even one with a really high price tag) was believable, right?

Then, I steered the conversation back to Gon: he would probably be able to draw Killua’s attention away from Lance’s work, “Do you have any siblings, Gon?” I looked around Gon, “Killua?”

“No, I don’t have any siblings. It’s just me and Aunt Mito.”

Killua made a sour face, “I have a few.”

Seeing as Killua probably wasn’t going to continue, I focused my attention on Gon, “Your Aunt sounds important to you.”

“Mm. I was raised by Aunt Mito, I don’t know my mom or dad. Although, I’ve seen my dad in pictures.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Gon.”

He shook his head rapidly, “Aunt Mito is the best parent I could ask for!”

So, Gon was an orphan? Or was he abandoned? Aunt Mito left me with a lot of questions, most of which I couldn’t really put into words. Even though my family was full of Hunters that had to leave at a moment’s notice to fly across the world and potentially might not come back (well, they were too strong to _not_ come back), at least I knew them. I knew what they liked, or disliked, what they looked like, what they sounded like… The closest family member I could think of who I only saw in photographs were my uncle and grandparents on my dad’s side. Apparently, they had died soon after I was born, killed by some assassins, but my dad didn’t seem to like talking about them too much. My grandparents on my mom’s side came down to visit us every now and then – they weren’t Hunters, and lived ‘far’ away… But from what I understood, they didn’t really like that we were Hunters, and preferred to not get involved in all of that.

Lance says that it started to become noticeable after dad’s brother and parents were killed, undoubtedly because of their work as Hunters.

“…When my dad was twelve, he took the Hunter Exam. He passed and became a Hunter, then he left the island.” Gon laughed quietly, “I want to find out why he chose to be a Hunter over being with me. That’s why I’m taking this Exam.”

The hazel-eyed boy’s words sounded like some sort of revenge-quest: following in the footsteps of someone who had left him in order to know why he didn’t return. But, coming out of Gon’s mouth, with his eyes set squarely ahead, it was impossible to think of it as anything more than innocent curiosity.

“What kind of Hunter is he?” I glanced at Killua, noting that he knew that Hunters could come in different types. It was probably something a lot of people here knew, but…

“I don’t know.”

With the look on Gon’s face, it seems like the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Pfft. Hahaha!” As Killua struggled to regain himself, the chuckle still in his voice, he continued, “That’s kinda weird: you want to be like your dad, but you don’t know anything about him? Weird.”

My father, Kakeui, started out as a Blacklist Hunter – and still is to this day. He sometimes takes on contracts from powerful and well-paying people, but mostly he tracks down dangerous and wanted criminals by whatever means necessary. Riona, my mom, is a Botanical Hunter: specializing in the search and collection of rare and dangerous plants (aaaaaand taking them home and researching them in the large greenhouse on the Luchia Estate’s land, apparently). The two met when my dad took a contract to escort mom to a criminal-infested region as she inspected the plant life there (dad managed to catch most of the bad guys, too. Or so the story goes). They both got their first star ranking a few years after becoming Hunters, and mom is getting close to her second star.

Aurelian followed in dad’s footsteps for a while, being a Blacklist Hunter, but she recently left her Hunter profession behind to fight it out in Heaven’s Arena. Lance works as an Information Hunter, when he isn’t busy doing a whole bunch of nothing or tinkering on something. Neireniet and Melusines are Blacklist Hunters and work well together. Since hunting criminals and getting contracts here and there go well together, Ren and Melu also act as Contract Hunters.

Emelinne wasn’t a hunter yet, and I still had no idea what Hunter I wanted to be. So far, being a Contract Hunter seems pretty decent…

“Hey, now that I think about it, why do _you_ guys want to become Hunters?” Gon turned his question on the two of us, and I looked over to Killua for his answer first.

“Me?” Killua shrugged, “I’m not really interested in becoming a Hunter. I heard the exam was supposed to be really hard, so I thought it’d be fun. But this is disappointing.”

My eyebrow raised in surprise: first we have Gon’s whole backstory of why he wants to be a Hunter, and then Killua’s shrug of an answer. With their eyes turning towards me, I quickly came up with a vague answer.

“Well, Hunters get access to things that normal people don’t get to see. I thought that was cool, and being a Hunter would probably be fun, so here I am!”

Gon nodded, accepting my answer wholeheartedly, while Killua simply turned his eyes back to the front. We ran up the stairs for a while, falling into an easy hush as we all moved side-to-side to dodge the exhausted applicants. I had found two interesting people, if this Exam gave me nothing else. Pursing my lips, I quietly considered the fact that _all_ of the people who took the Exam were interesting, but those who were set to pass it were _more_ interesting. As far as I could tell, Gon and Killua would be passing with me this year.

Unless the Exam this year would let only a few of us pass… which it probably wouldn’t: the rest of my family had passed the Exams with numerous new Hunters, unless someone had really tried to lock down their position and butchered the other applicants sometime in the final Phase...

Killua broke the silence, “Gon, wanna race to see who finishes first?”

“Sure.” Gon nodded happily before turning to me, “Kyra, want to join us?”

I resisted the competitive urge desperately trying to get me to agree to racing the two boys up the stairs, and I managed to settle on, “Nah, if I joined you guys would be competing for second.” I bit my tongue lightly, hoping to prevent any more competitive- _sounding_ words from coming out.

“Eh?” Killua drawled, “You think you can run faster than us with those wheels stuck to your feet?” He nodded towards me, eyes on the wheels beside my sneaker’s heels.

But, he had set me off, “Pfft. I can run faster than you guys in my sleep.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Absolutely.” I glared at Killua, “Last person to reach the end buys dinner.”

“You’re on!” He smirked, and I felt my blood simmer but then cool as I reminded myself to just wipe the smug look off his face by winning, “I guess I’ll start thinking about what I want to eat.”

“Good.” I huffed, turning my face forwards with a smirk of my own, “You can cry over it later once we head to _my_ choice of restaurant.”

Gon laughed, his head swivelling back and forth between us, “Ready…?”

My eyes mapped my route, noting the other applicants who might become a hazard to my running: those that looked too tired to continue, those whose muscles were working against them with every step taken, those who had already fallen on the steps. Some were dragging themselves forwards with the use of their arms, some were unconscious, some had mis-stepped and were still rolling down the stairs.

If only I wasn’t handicapping myself: I could just bound off of one wall to the other, and not have to run up any steps at all…

“Go!”

On Gon’s word, I took a leaping start. Shoving off of the ground with my foot, skipping a decent number of steps before running up the stairs. Not as fast as I could go, but as fast as I could go that I thought was reasonable for a girl my age.

…I _might’ve_ miscalculated, though. Judging by the wide-eyed stares that followed me upwards. Whether that was because they couldn’t believe anyone had the energy to speed up the steps, or that I was running too fast – I didn’t care to find out. Finally, something fun was happening, and I was determined to win this little race of ours so that I could rub it in Killua’s face.

But, it seems the two boys started in the same way, and we were soon evenly matched: running up the stairs easily as we raced towards the finish line.

“Eager, Kyra?” Gon grinned at me, “I am too!”

I took out another lollipop, crinkling the wrapper with a knowing look over to Killua (who turned out to be quite the fellow candy-lover) as I popped it in my curved mouth, “This race is the most exciting thing that’s happened so far. It’s too bad I didn’t get cool Magical Beast navigators like you did! That would’ve been fun!”

Gon had explained how he ended up in the Exam but left out the requirement of catching the giant Swamp-Master fish (which was admittedly the coolest part until his encounter with the Kiriko). It almost made me wish I had gone the intended route to the Exam: navigators and all. _Almost_.

“Oh, it’s those guys.”

Killua drew our attention ahead of us, and sure enough, Suit and Blond-Lance were running up ahead. Blond-Lance had taken off his cool blue garment, and I pouted silently at the thought. But now, getting a closer look at them, while I got the feeling Blond-Lance acted like Lance, there wasn’t any physical resemblance that I could see. I’d have to think of a new nickname…

“Kurapika, Leorio!” The two turned to look back at us, and Blond-Lance gave a small wave as Suit gave us a sweaty grin.

“I made a new friend!” Gon pointed over at me, “This is Kyra! She says that she likes people introducing themselves before using their names!” He paused, “And I don’t think you’ve met Killua either, Kurapika!”

I managed a smile and wave as I moved the lollipop from one cheek to another, “Yo. Nice to meet you!”

Blond-Lance’s smile inched wider, “Nice to meet you two. I’m Kurapika.”

Well, that solved the nickname problem.

“I’m Leorio.” Leorio looked ridiculous: the wide swinging of his arms, the top of his shirt tied around his hips while his tie was still around his neck but turned around and trailing behind him like some sorry excuse for a cape.

But hey, I thought he was done for only a… while ago? How long had it been? I didn’t keep track of it since Gon had been so entertaining…

“See you at the goal, Kurapika.” Gon waved at the blond, bringing me from my thoughts as I realized we were already passing the odd duo.

“Catch you later, old timer.”

“I’m not old!” Killua grinned at Leorio’s angry response, and I felt that we’d get along – as long as Killua remained silent about any of his sharp-eyed observations.

“I’m a teenager, just like you guys!” Shocked faces stared at him, and I _guess_ he could pass for a teenager in his late teens?

But he couldn’t be, could he?

“C’mon, Leorio.” I broke the sudden silence, “It’s not nice to lie…”

“I’m not lying!” At the second admittance to Leorio’s claim, words of shock came from the two boys.

“Huh?”

“No way!”

“Why, you-!”

The three of us sped away from the older teenager, and soon found ourselves to be the only ones running through the tunnel: bodies were sprawled across the floor in front and behind us, but none were still competing in the First Phase.

* * *

 O

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 “I’m impressed that you can keep up with me.”

We had been running for at least another twenty kilometers before Killua spoke up again, and as the race was still on, so too were my competitive remarks. It wasn’t _my_ fault that Killua seemed to say everything like he was better than us, and now that I’m in this race: I’m in it to win it.

I snorted, “That’s my line.”

“Hey-!”

“Really?” Gon’s innocent response to his previous statement quieted the pale boy’s response, and so he picked another one after sending a glare my way.

“Or maybe it’s just that everyone else is too slow.”

Unfortunately, Killua’s words were true, and while there was a tiny part of me that wanted to say they weren’t (alright, a large part of me), I kept my comments, and thoughts, to myself. It wasn’t surprising that a large number of applicants had applied: but the amount who had made it to the First Phase were surprisingly unskilled. While I didn’t expect them to have the amount of training Killua or I had (excluding Gon, because, as Killua said, it was surprising that he was keeping up with no experience in any field except for running around Whale Island), I was at least hoping for more people who could pose a challenge.

I guess that’s why this was the First Phase: since it had an actual Hunter as an Examiner, it would weed out those unsuitable for the job.

“Man…” Killua sighed, “The Hunter Exam is gonna be a breeze. That’s no fun.”

I silently agreed. The Exam was clearly designed for people who were a little more ‘extra’ than ‘ordinary’. For the three of us, this First Phase, and probably the ones after it, were going to be far too easy. At least I had made the Exam more challenging myself than relying on the low bar they had set: finding the Exam Site without the help of a navigator (although I guess you could call Lance my navigator) and then also trying to see how far I could get without revealing the level of my skills to the other applicants…

So far, these handicaps had led me to meeting Killua and Gon, and I was kinda interested to see what other interesting things they stirred up.

Natural light streamed into the tunnel as we made it around the final corner. The sight of it had me glancing towards Killua and Gon, “See you slowpokes at the finish line!”

I bounded up the steps, passing Mr. Pins and Needles, Joker, and Ninja-guy as I reached Examiner Mystery Man. He was strange-looking: wearing a suit like Leorio (except his was dark purple in colour) and had pale lavender-coloured hair that curled up at the ends. His run was also weird, as he seemed to slink up the stairs without bending his arms or legs. Shrugging the sight off as I raced forward (this _was_ the Hunter Exam, after all), I heard Gon and Killua’s steps closing in behind me. The lead I had gained with my spurt of speed failed to make much of a difference as I slowed down, remembering that I was trying to blend in.

But, as Mystery Man reached the top of the steps, and all of us were about to tie, I tried to pull ahead by an inch or so as discretely as possible.

“Goal!” Our three voices called out as we exited the tunnel, and we all took a few steps to come to a halt before turning and looking at one another.

“Yay! I win.”

“What are you talking about? I was faster…”

“What are _you_ talking about? Clearly your eyes had trouble adjusting to the light: _I’m_ the one who won!”

“I was.”

“No, I was!”

“Nope, I was!”

“I was faster so you two…” Gon paused, “Wait, how are we doing this with three people?”

“Oh… Good question…”

“Well, since _I_ was faster than _both_ of you, you _both_ have to buy me dinner!” Grinning widely, I put my hands on my hips in triumph.

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

I glared at Killua, “And why doesn’t it?”

He matched my glare, “Because I was faster than you.”

“Not a chance! I was faster!”

As our glaring match intensified, Gon turned to Mystery Man, “Hey, who was faster?”

“Ah, good idea, Gon!” I broke away from my glaring contest (as clearly, I had the superior glare) and turned to the Examiner, “I was faster, right?”

…Apparently this Examiner didn’t have a mouth. He had a thin, curly, mustache, but no mouth. How was that even possible – it _was_ him who spoke to us before, right? I shook the thought away, as long as he could tell these two boys who the _real_ winner was, then it didn’t matter!

“Keep dreaming, Kyra.” Killua also turned to him, “I was faster. End of story.”

Mystery Man looked to Gon, then to Killua, then to me. With three children staring expectantly at him, he eventually gave a response that only caused his curly moustache to move slightly, “I believe that you all crossed the finish line simultaneously.”

Puffing my cheeks out at the answer that was least satisfying at all, I walked up to him and pulled a lollipop from my wrapper-filled pouch. He looked down at me, but as he made a move to grab the candy, Killua called out.

“Hey! You can’t bribe the judge, that’s cheating!”

“I’m not bribing the judge, slowpoke! I’m just handing him a lollipop!” After the candy left my hand, I continued, “…So that the sugar can help his unfortunate vision problem he seems to be having!”

Sticking my tongue out at Killua, who had quite the angry face, I then reached out a hand towards Mystery Man, “Nice to meet you…” I paused and decided to consider his mass-introduction at the start of the Phase as a suitable one, “Satotz! My name’s Kyra, the _actual_ ,” I stole an impish glance at Killua from the corner of my eye, “winner of the race.”

A hand found its way onto my shoulder, and I could tell it was Killua before I even glanced back to see the white-haired boy standing behind me, “Hey, now… That’s enough bribing! He’s already called the tie…”

I could _feel_ him getting frustrated, and it only made the grin I hadn’t realized my lips pulling themselves into grow wider at the knowledge of getting under his sharp-eyed skin.

As he started pulling me away from Satotz, my hand retracting quickly to delve into the folds of my crinkly sweater-pocket, I leaned back onto my heels and let myself be wheeled over to Gon, “Then how can it be bribing, slowpoke?”

Killua growled before responding through clenched teeth, “ _You’re_ the only slowpoke here!”

“Alright, because it’s a tie, then I’ll buy you guys dinner,” Gon appeared at of nowhere, and probably stopped Killua from removing his hand and letting me fall to the ground, “And then Killua will buy us dinner,” He gestured to me as he spoke, and Killua followed it with a ‘huh?’, “And then Kyra’ll buy us dinner!”

“I don’t get it…” Killua sighed, and in doing so loosened his grip on my shoulder.

Taking a look around, I noticed that there was a light fog covering the ground, and the open space before realizing that we had come to some sort of marshland-type area. The ground just in front of the tunnel’s exit was solid enough to allow Lance’s rollerblade attachments to work, but if we left this patch of ground, they would become a problem. Seeing as there were no other Examiners in sight, I figured that we still were in the First Phase and plopped myself onto the ground: escaping Killua’s grasp as I started to remove the attachments. Pulling the bag from my shoulders, I quickly deposited the rollerblades and empty wrappers back into my bag (deciding to grab another handful of candy to replace the ones that the three of us had eaten – although most wrappers belonged to me), as the remaining applicants made their way up the stairs.

“Hey, Mister Satotz. Is this where the Second Phase takes place?”

“No, we still have quite a way to go.”

“Oh…”

Standing up, brushing the dirt off the back of my sweater, I noticed that my breathing was heavier than it should’ve been after only rollerblading… roughly eighty kilometers. Other than the deep breaths, the rest of my body acted as I expected it to: my muscles weren’t pained, I wasn’t tired… I might be a little hungry, but because the cloudy skies were the brightest overhead, it was around lunchtime.

“Hey Kyra, quit spacing out!” My eyes snapped to Killua’s blue ones as he called over his shoulder, “Gon found this cool frog!” With a low croak causing Gon’s laughter as crouched down, not too close to the small frog, but not too far, either, Killua ran to join him.

For a moment, I wondered how something as simple as finding a frog could immediately spread a smile across my face. But, the moment soon passed, and I joined Killua and Gon as we watched the brown frog hop around.

Before I could relax, I felt Joker’s eyes on the three of us, and I glanced back to see him walking out of the tunnel with Mr. Pins and Needles close behind.

Killua and Gon had been interesting, and I’d be sure to stick with them for the Exam… But the longer it went on, the harder it would probably be to separate myself from them. Checking out the rest of the competition _now_ , in the foggy swamp… That would probably be best. Especially when Joker’s bloodlust actually made the air feel heavier and colder the moment he was within sight.

Something was going to happen soon, and I’d be there to see it.

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\- Disclaimer -

The only thing I own are my OCs

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 Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, fireflies!

-Love, Ember ;3


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